Higher calling for Plainsboro's Rev. Armstrong (with video)

Michael Mancuso/The TimesRichard Armstrong giving the benediction after a Veterans Day observance sponsored by the Spirit of Princeton Committee at the town's All Wars Memorial in November 2004.

Dick Armstrong - baseball executive turned minister Baseball executive Dick Armstrong gave up his life with the Orioles to attend Princeton Theological Seminary and became the first (and thought to be the only) front office management employee in the major league to enter the ministry.
His story is told in a new book.
Video by Martin Griff / The Times of Trenton

News, notes and quotes for the penultimate Wednesday in August. Hard to believe Labor Day is less than two weeks away.

A wonderful book crossed the Diamond Reflections desk recently. “A Sense of Being Called” is Richard Armstrong’s own story of going from major-league baseball executive to Presbyterian minister, and it is a fascinating narrative.

Rev. Armstrong is a graduate of Princeton University who played for the Tigers baseball team and eventually pitched in the minor leagues before becoming the public relations director of the Philadelphia Athletics. He left the A’s to enter the advertising world, then was hired as the first PR man for the Baltimore Orioles after the franchise was relocated from St. Louis.

It was in spring training in 1955 when Dick Armstrong experienced an epiphany he calls his “Damascus Road,” a reference to the Apostle Paul’s moment of enlightenment. Armstrong believed God was calling him to the ministry, and later that year he left his position with the Orioles and began studying at the Princeton Theological Seminary.

Shortly after his graduation from the seminary, he began his pastorate career. He is also a founding member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

“A Sense of Being Called” is a spell-binding narrative, and the author’s love of God, family, baseball and fellow man shine through every page. On a personal level, it was very intriguing since I know several Catholic priests who, like Rev. Armstrong, were into what they believed were lifelong careers before being called to the priesthood.

Still active at 87, Richard Armstrong is the Ashenfelter professor emeritus at Princeton Theological Seminary. He lives in Plainsboro, plays tennis twice a week and works out nearly every day.

• You notice the energy Hunter Pence brings to the Phillies and the same spark that Michael Bourn provides the Braves, and it makes you wonder how the Astros were such a dead team.

• In April 2010, Atlanta’s Jason Heyward hit a homer in his first major-league at-bat and went on to have a stellar rookie season, hitting .277/.393/.456 (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage) with 18 homers and 72 RBIs. Heyward was fourth in the NL in OBP, and last season looked like the first step in what would be a Hall of Fame career.

One step forward, two steps back? This season, Heyward is batting .220/.313/.393 with just 12 homers in 355 plate appearances, has lost playing time to Jose Constanza — Jose Constanza? — and there are questions about his makeup since he has sat himself down with various ailments that to others seem minor.

Still just 21, Heyward has a chance to put this all behind him and use it as a learning experience. One thing he has to do, according to veteran Chipper Jones, is make some mechanical adjustments.

“Jason’s got one swing,” Jones says. “His swing needs some versatility. How many times have we seen him get fooled on an off-speed pitch and one-hand it into center field? He swings and misses because he takes the same swing. ... You show me a .300 hitter, and I’ll show you a guy who is going to take five different swings.”

• Charlie Manuel’s postgame press conferences are usually entertaining and always filled with nuggets of knowledge. His comments after Monday’s Phillies win over the Mets about how talent must be infused with a winning attitude is a must for anyone’s coaching manual.

• Then there is Joe Girardi, who gave an over-the-top performance after Saturday’s loss in Minnesota. When the Yankees manager removed A.J. Burnett in the second inning of that game, the cameras clearly showed Burnett cursing at his manager and Girardi looking back in the pitcher’s direction. During the telecast, the Yankees broadcasters noted what happened and spoke freely about it. Yet, when questioned after the game, Girardi blamed the media for making a big deal about the incident and for trying to put a wedge between manager and player.

Small-time stuff. Girardi is the manager — hence, the spokesman — for the most important and most successful organization in professional sports. His skin should be much thicker.

• Jim Thome joined the 600 Home Run Club last week, the eighth hitter ever to do so, and it will probably be a while before we see No. 9. Next closest on the active list is Chipper Jones with 448, and at age 39 it’s doubtful he’ll even get to 500. The best bet at this point is Albert Pujols, who has 438 homers at the age of 31. He’s at least five years away.